Since 2004, without ever having a national strategy, American taxpayers have spent billions of dollars to double the number of Border Patrol agents in an attempt to patch up our nation’s porous borders, only to see the problem shifted instead of solved. Last week, the Senate voted to repeat the same mistakes.

An example of the outcome of this nonstrategy is seen in the Rio Grande Valley where, for the first time since 1993, the number of apprehensions has surpassed apprehensions in the Tucson region — a longtime hot spot for illegal crossings. The focused enforcement in Arizona has pushed illegal crossings toward Texas, according to the chief of the U.S. Border Patrol.

In what will inevitably continue the ad hoc strategy that’s failed for decades, the Senate’s Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act continues to throw money and resources at isolated areas of the border without requiring measured progress.

The Senate’s “border surge,” which doubles the size of the current Border Patrol, is a textbook example of government waste, gauging progress using inputs instead of outputs. The Senate agreed to the “surge” in exchange for dropping the demand to make a pathway to citizenship contingent on a 90 percent apprehension rate.

Ironically, this agreement was welcomed by the same administration that claims the border is more secure than ever.

We need a long-term strategy that’s adaptive, not a multibillion-dollar laundry list of arbitrary assets that we have no guarantee will ever be deployed, much less deployed properly. For example, the Senate claims to mandate a fence, but in reality the administration can decide not to build it.

Additionally, the “surge” terminology is misleading. The annual training capacity and recruitment rate for Border Patrol agents is only a fraction of the 20,000 new agents called for in the Senate bill, which means residency status would be granted for millions before security increases, which is precisely what happened in 1986.

Former Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner recently

wrote that the “surge” would “throw a phenomenal amount of money at border enforcement without achieving control of the border.”

Ultimately, the Senate bill puts the cart before the horse by allocating billions before a plan is in place. While the number of agents and resources on the border are important, anyone who understands management knows that how those assets are used is infinitely more important. When deployed without an overarching strategy to achieve a specific, measurable goal, these elements are often duplicative, short-sighted or wasted entirely.

To address border security the right way, in April, I introduced HR 1417, the Border Security Results Act. This bipartisan legislation demands a plan, verified by outside experts, before one dollar is spent on new resources. The bill, which unanimously passed the House Homeland Security Committee, compels DHS to finally develop a comprehensive outcome-based strategy to achieve operational control of the border, defined as stopping 90 percent of illegal border crossers.

How do we know we’re stopping 90 percent? The mandated strategy incorporates the use of advanced Department of Defense sensor technology, much of which sits in warehouses overseas, to achieve visibility of our entire border — so we can finally see what we’re missing. These tools, which the taxpayers have already paid for, have proved effective at tracking border-crossers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once deployed as part of a comprehensive strategy, they’ll provide the situational awareness to measure progress.

Additionally, the strategy must be submitted to Congress and its implementation, metrics and results must be verified by nonpartisan, outside experts, not the administration, on a tight but achievable timeline.

Finally, the bill is endorsed by both law enforcement and industry including the National Sheriffs Association, Major County Sheriffs Association and the Security Industry Association.

Unless we require a nationwide plan and results first, we will inevitably spend countless taxpayer dollars only to repeat this debate a decade from now. As we approach border security and immigration yet again, the Border Security Results Act demands progress instead of accepting the status quo.

Michael McCaul, R-Austin, is chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security. homeland.house.gov.

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